School gardener struck by lightning

KOTA KINABALU: A school gardener was killed and his colleague seriously hurt after they were struck by lightning at the SMK Datuk Peter Mojuntin field in Penampang near here on Tuesday.

Fazlie Lai Fauzie, 36, was believed to have been killed on the spot during the 3.30pm incident while fellow gardener Maidah Banir, 46, remained unconscious after being rushed to the Queen Elizabeth hospital.

A school security guard Wilfred Kinin, 29, said he had heard screams from the field amid a thunderstorm.

“I rushed to the area and saw Fazlie and Maidah had collapsed on the field,” he said.

He said teachers who had heard the screams and saw what had happened immediately alerted the police and called the ambulance.

Penampang police chief Dept Supt Rosley Hobden in confirming the incident said Fazlie had been killed by a lightning strike.

Police also dismissed a theory being spread on social media that the lightning strike was because the victims had been charging their handphones with a power bank.